Where psychology and YA literature/media meet. Collide. Meld. Fight to the death. Snuggle.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

OF METAL AND WISHES

I know--I'm ridiculous, popping up to do a long blog series and then disappearing again. Still, I suspect half of you are on vacation anyway!

Nevertheless, I have to share this, because I am just so excited. OF METAL AND WISHES, formerly "Factory Ghost," was a book I never meant to write. It hit me sideways while I was on sub with SCAN, and I wrote it in a few weeks. It came tearing out of me, the voice, the world, the characters. It is so different from Sanctum, more lyrical, I guess--but in its own way, no less brutal. It's an odd duck of a book that landed me with an editor and an imprint I hugely admire. JUST A NOTE: This is not a new book deal for me!Factory Ghost sold last year. I'm just sharing the plot summary now.

Here's the jacket copy!

There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.

Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her… for a very long time.

As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her … and she might go down with it.

That's the long version. The short version: this is Phantom of the Opera set in a meat factory. But I added a few twists of my own. And if you want a hint, I offer you this gif (lovingly provided by an early reader, also the intern who plucked Sanctum from the slush). This image also sums up how I feel about this book.

I've never really loved YA ghost novels, any kind of ghost novels actually, but OH MANN you make this sound so good!! Congratulations for the new book deal!! :)) Now I can't wait for Fractured AND OMaW!

About Me

I'm a child psychologist with an unapologetically empirical orientation. I'm also an author who writes unapologetically fantastical YA fiction. In that venture, I am repped by Kathleen Ortiz of New Leaf Literary and Media. SANCTUM and FRACTURED, the first two books in my YA urban fantasy series, GUARDS OF THE SHADOWLANDS, are available now (Skyscape/Amazon Children's Publishing). Book 3 in the series comes out 10/14. My co-authored (with Walter Jury) YA thriller, SCAN, comes out in 5/1/14 (Putnam & Sons/Penguin). OF METAL AND WISHES, my gothic YA, comes out in 8/5/14 (McElderry/Simon & Schuster). I also write adult paranormal romance for 47 North/Amazon. I like to stay busy.